Human sex trafficking survivors struggle to find jobs. Will this Fresno effort help?
When Arien Garcia first escaped from life as a victim of human sex trafficking, she struggled to find a job anywhere in Fresno.
Her nonviolent criminal record always pushed her job applications to the bottom of the pile. She said she applied to “every McDonald’s and Taco Bell in Fresno and in Clovis” and even went in for an interview at a local Subway on Christmas Eve.
“I was beyond determined to have something else that didn’t define me as my past, and I was denied each and every single time,” said Garcia. “It was so frustrating.”
But now, survivors like Garcia could get help clearing away old nonviolent convictions under a new proposed law with broad support among Fresno leaders.
On Tuesday, Garcia gathered with Fresno Mayor Jerry Dyer, Assemblyman Jim Patterson, Police Chief Paco Balderrama, and human trafficking support group, Breaking the Chains, to urge Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign AB 262 into law.
The bill, introduced in the California legislature by Patterson, would help expedite clearing the nonviolent criminal records of human trafficking victims. It also would eliminate the requirement to pay fees before a court hearing.
Looking for work as a survivor of human trafficking
Today, Garcia is a youth program manager with the Central Valley Justice Coalition. But the road to employment was not easy.
Under AB 262, survivors would have their records purged with local law enforcement and the state Justice Department within 90 days of a judge’s order, rather than the current wait time that can take up to a year.
For a survivor unable to pass a background check to get a job, one year is too long, supporters said.
Garcia is one of the estimated 27 million victims of human trafficking worldwide, according to the Central Valley Justice Coalition. From 2010-2018, over 700 victims have been identified and rescued, according to Central Valley Against Human Trafficking.
Balderrama confirmed that in 2021 alone, Fresno police have investigated 52 human trafficking cases, which have led to the arrests of 20 human traffickers and the release of 59 trafficked victims.
At Tuesday’s event, Dyer acknowledged that under his years as the former police chief, the department “got it wrong for a number of years” and treated the trafficked woman as suspects rather than as victims.
Dyer said the department’s approach changed after investigators wiretapped a local gang that trafficked women and learned of the conditions the victims were subject to.
“Some of these young women would love to go into a school and volunteer because they have children, but their past prohibits them from doing it,” said Dyer. “So today, I urge the governor to sign this bill.”
AB 262 is ‘huge’ for survivors to move on
Support groups and Fresno area leaders say the law would have a huge impact on the day-to-day lives of survivors of human and sex trafficking.
Dominique Brown turned to the nonprofit Breaking the Chains when she wanted to get out of her former life as a trafficked sex worker, but her pending court charges made it hard for her to lead a normal life.
She said she couldn’t volunteer in her daughter’s classroom or go on field trips because of her criminal record.
Brown said the ability to expedite the process to expunge your record with AB 262 is “huge” for former victims trying to move forward in their lives.
“Being able to volunteer at your daughter’s or kids’ school — that’s huge for me, I really wanted that,” said Brown.
Today, Brown is a survivor advocate with Breaking the Chains and a full-time mother of a 10-year-old daughter with a baby boy on the way.
“I love working with at-risk youth and minors,” said Brown. “I want to be that person who I didn’t have to kind of catch them right at the beginning when they’re still hopeful.”
Patterson said he is confident that Newsom will sign the bill into law, “but we did want to take this moment to celebrate how far we have come because of the people here and the importance of taking that last final step toward their freedom,” he said.
Garcia said she thinks the bill will have ripple effects in improving the community, strengthening the workforce, and ultimately giving hope to former human trafficking victims.
“This is a long time coming.”
Melissa Montalvo is a reporter with The Fresno Bee and a Report for America corps member. This article is part of The California Divide, a collaboration among newsrooms examining income inequity and economic survival in California.
This story was originally published September 15, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
